Attitudes towards global warming: The role of anticipated guilt and the Dark Triad traits

Abstract Given the association between attitudes towards climate change and personality traits, the aim of this study was to examine attitudes towards global warming through the Dark Triad personality traits and anticipated guilt. A sample of 201 undergraduate students participated in this cross-sectional web-based survey. Results showed that favourable attitudes towards global warming were negatively associated with the Dark Triad and positively with anticipated guilt. Young individuals anticipate more guilt if not taking action to mitigate global warming. Individuals high on Machiavellianism and psychopathy tend to not consider humans responsible for global warming, while narcissism is not associated with attitudes towards global warming. Implications for climate change mitigation are discussed.